It would appear from the private letters with which, by
the activity of the Daily Press, we are now overwhelmed, that MiGuEL. and his officers have at length determined on a serious attempt at getting rid of the invading force; though the attempt, up to the date of the latest accounts, had notbeen very vigorously or successfully gone about.- The first demonstration of the besiegers was made on Sunday the 9th • when, - in an affair of outposts, Don BERNARDO SA, one of 9th; best officers, had his aria shattered by a musket-shot : this was on the left bank. SA, finding that with his troops the defence of Villa Nova was im- pra&icable against the force which MIGUEL was pouring .down;* determined on retreating to the city ; having • first placed the Convent of the Serra in as good a position in respect of men and means as possible. The Serra, which stands -on- whigh grotmd, and commands the whole Of Villa Nova, had been previously gar- risoned, and -rendered as tenable as its nature allowed. The ;bridge of communication was cut away as soon as the troops of Don' BERNARn0 ,had passed over. The Serra was at first the great object of attack; but its defenders displayed so much bravery, and the measures of the enemy were so badly taken, and. their means of storming so limited, that after two or three at- tacks upon it; in which . they suffered -severely, they seem to have limited their- ambition-to-the 'annoyance of Oporto, as the safer if not the more important game. . From the 9th to the 20th, the troops in possession of continued throwing shells into Oporto,—and, it is saionweve.,.......: rockets, though this has been contradicted,—with lees with smaller loss of life, limb, and property, than could have been imagined : they contrived also during that period to erect, and to have knocked down some half-a.-dozen of times, a small battery, with which they swept the quays and streets near the river. PEDRO'S forces, according to their mealts and opportunities, do not seem to have been slow in replying ; but with what effect, is of course not known. On PEDRO'S side, no loss of moment was sus- tained, except that of the Terceira schooner, which was sunk by MIGUEL'S guns, to silence which she and two others had been hauled up in front of Villa Nova. On the 20th, in the morning, MIGUEL'S troops retired to the heights of San Ovidio, leaving in Villa Nova only a few men, who continued to amuse themselves by firing at any unlucky waif on the right bank who might happen to come within their reach. The intercourse between the two towns was, however, from that day restored, at least to the country- people. The correspondent of the Times, who gives a long but lively account of the bombardment, says, the universal impression at Oporto was, that Don MiGuer. would make a general and com- bined attack on the 29th; after which, if it proved unsuccessful, it was confidently expected that his troops would disperse and return home. The Cronica Constitutional says, that on the 17th it was proposed by the Portuguese commander on the right bank, to convey his battering-train to Vallougo, lest they should be sur- prised by the " Machados;" but that his men would not allow him. We regret to state, that in a sortie on the 16th, an English officer, named STAUNTON, with a sergeant and a private, were killed ; and one named JENKINS, with seventeen privates, also English, wounded.
MIGUEL'S fleet has again sailed ; and according to one account, they and SARTORIUS were dodging off ?rid on near Cape St. Vin- cent, about fifty miles from land. Another account says, MIGUEL'S fleet was about to take shelter in the Bay of Cadiz. They have lost their steamer. She foundered soon after they sailed. She had some heavy artillery and one hundred and ninety artillerymen on board ; the whole of whom, as well as the crew, perished. The English at Oporto were in no inconsiderable alarm, during the bombardment ; and, agreeably to the neutral policy observed by England, there was no vessel in the river to which, in case of ex- tremity, they could have recourse for safety. Colonel Some, the new Consul, has arrived ; but it seems somewhat doubtful, in case a storming were to take place, if he could protect himself, much less several hundreds of his countrymen. The English property in Villa Nova is immense, not less than 80,000 pipes of wine. It can hardly have escaped great damage during the bombardment.
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